Hi, these 2 chairs need replacement webbing, but the way that the clips are secured is unusual. The clips are barbed, and seem to work by digging into the wood when they are tucked into the (horizontal) slot.
I have experimented with using a wooden kitchen spatula to get them into position, but I wondered if anyone has experience of these and can advise on:
whether I can buy these clips anywhere
a better way to secure them
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Are the straps dried out so they no longer provide any tension to pull the barbs Into the wood?
The barbs in a slot seem to me like an elegant method actually. You can buy more Pirelli rubber webbing on eBay, and put the old clips on the new webbing. Just bear in mind that the straps stretch as they get old so you will need to guess at the original length.
Leif, thank you for your reply.
The 2nd chair has very worn straps (much worse than this one), but the clips are all still firmly in place.
I agree that it's an elegant method.
I do plan to re-use the clips with new webbing, but I was curious that I can find no reference to this type of fastening anywhere on the internet, so if I damage one then I may be in trouble!
Posting an update in case anyone else has to do this job.
I wasn't able to find replacement clips anywhere, so I re-used the old ones.
It's possible to get them out of the slots by easing the barbs out of the wood with a gentle levering motion (using a screwdriver).
I made very sure that I understood how the clips are secured before I took them all out!
I prised the clips gently apart with a screwdriver, just enough to release the tabs that secure the straps with a piercing action.
The Pirelli webbing is standard 2", so I cut the new webbing to the necessary lengths.
I crimped the clips on with pliers, until I could see that the tabs had pierced the strap securely.
The way that the clips secure in the slot is by folding back upon themselves. Downward pressure on the strap then makes the barbs dig in to the wood.
It's very easy to secure the first end, by sliding the clip in with a scraper or similar.
If you tug on the strap you can instantly see that it's secure.
The other end is harder to do, as you need to apply tension.
For this, you need 2 scrapers. One to push the strap in, and the other to hold between the barbs and the wood, so that they don't catch. When you're happy it's in place you slide this one out first, so that the barbs dig in.
It's very much simpler than this makes it sound. Take a look at the pictures.
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